Innovation, inspiration and focus of public health information portals. Nicholas Cop -

Transcription

1 Innovation, inspiration and focus of public health information portals Nicholas Cop - copn@bellsouth.net

2 Health information delivery Consolidation Indexing for searching Interoperability Health Professionals: Information and Tools You Can Use Portal de esalud Australia Portal de esalud Inglaterra

3 Health information delivery An ehealth portal reflects the practical, non-political public position regarding healthcare by the respective governments It is a public good, a public statement

4 Paradigm shifts & trends Rapidly growing wireless coverage, even in Africa (anecdotal and statistical) Empowerment personal technologies People are building the Internet Creating, interacting and sharing Search Engines are driving self-service Information searching and retrieval skills are helped by self-service and personalization. Social networking friends and like-minded communities are being created

5 Purpose & Methods Five major ehealth portals were surveyed Look at the state of the art and innovation in the implementation and management of an ehealth portal in five, highly developed countries. Look at trends, the different models and approaches, the best practices and the elements for success. Adapt, and provide recommendations, guidelines and principles for typical ehealth portals.

6 Purpose & Methodos The portals surveyed (UK) (Australia) ec.europa.eu/health-eu/index_en.htm (European Union) (Canada) (USA)

7 HealthInsite (Australia) Began in April 2000; 450,000 visits per month

8 NHS Choices (UK) Began in June 2007; up to 2M visits per month

9 Health EU (EU) Began in May 2006; 400,000 visits per month

10 Publichealth (CA) Began in 2004; 800,000 visits per month

11 Healthfinder (USA) Began in 1997; 750,000 visits per month

12 Findings Centricity (Constituents vs. Content focus) Health Consumer Health Policy and Administrator Health Professional In general, Health Consumer centric portals require larger budgets. Years in operation: 1 (UK), 2 (EU), 4 (CA), 8 (AU), 11 (USA)

13 Findings Constituents Content & Quality Enhancing Web presence Branding & Recognition Wireless & PDA Usage and Usability Priority Areas

14 Findings Constituents All state Consumer oriented Centricity varies Self-service; personalization Accessibility W3C User generated content Expert Blogs In my own words Wiki Multi-media Video (YouTube and imbedded videos); podcasting; images Content and Quality Information Partners Greatly expand content and variety without burdening portal staff. Adapt quickly to constituents information needs. Languages Validate; quality control HONcode Editorial and ethics controls/policies Information Partner evaluations. Life stages; focus on Healthy Living

15 Findings From the Health Insite Information Partner CLIMATE a not-for-profit initiative of the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression at St. Vincent s Hospital in Sydney

16 Findings Enhancing Web presence Being indexed by Search engines 80% to 90% Cross-linking with other sites Partners Sites interested in linking back Branding & Recognition Logos and mottos Partners Anyone who links back Simple, easy to remember URL s (Web addresses) Syndication of content RSS feeds Blogs YouTube Web services Wikipedia reference Pay-per-click

17 Findings Wireless & PDA Be everywhere, any time Rapidly gaining ground Privacy Personal, unrestricted access NHS Choices; Philippines No feedback yet too new Others investigating Usage & surveys Brief, on-line feedback forms Three questions On main page Direct, consumer comments News items Hospitals Patients stories In my own words Monitor usage statistics, perform regular surveys and focus groups HitWise WebTrends TEP Monitoring of ranking on Google

18 Findings Priority areas Continue to improve portal visibility on the Web syndication, RSS feeds Increase user produced content Personalization Improve visibility of Newsletters More multimedia Uploaded on August 28, 2007 by mikebaird

19 Conclusions & Recommendations General Continue study with selected portals from other regions Prepare a prototype for a typical ehealth portal. Facilitate visualization of recommendations Sensitize stakeholders and funders to the concept and the benefits An ehealth portal should be an integral part of a country s health strategy. the case of the five ehealth portals surveyed. Promote interoperability amongst portals To create a common ehealth portal index which would enhance each individual portal s visibility on the Web and also be a one point of search for health seekers.

20 Conclusions & Recommendations Portals Have a unique centricity Be viewed as the source for syndication (not just a Web site) Design should be based on the concept of self-service Accessibility for people with disabilities W3C seal or other access quality seal Browsealoud (NHS Choices) Produce and disseminate a news vehicle directed to constituency and centricity Main portal page should fit on one screen (avoid scrolling)

21 Conclusions & Recommendations Content & Editorial Control For all portals Editorial control for evaluation of content, Information Partners and links. HONcode; advertise it on main portal page.

22 Conclusions & Recommendations Content & Editorial Control For Consumer Centric Portals Editorial Board to oversee policy and ethics issues. Select and contract with Information Partners Experts in their area of work and provide information in the local context. A network of health professionals at research centers, national charities with recognized expertise, expert databases and librarians to facilitate review.

23 Conclusions & Recommendations Content & Editorial Control For Consumer Centric Portals Create programs to solicit personal stories (mediated) from the health consumer or from information Partners Local context; high acceptance and impact. Blogs generate RSS, increase visibility Indexed by search engines

24 Conclusions & Recommendations Content & Editorial Control For Policy and Administration Centric, and Health Professional Centric Portals An internal working group to select information from the various ministries and authoritative sites A network of subject matter experts in government and educational institutions to review content produced by the portal

25 Conclusions & Recommendations Content & Editorial Control For all portals State the editorial and linking policies clearly on the portal State the policy on use of the contents of the portal Creative Commons licenses Permission and copyright statements. Indicate clearly when the user is leaving the portal site to go to an external site Use visual tools to promote content (bandwidth) YouTube, Flickr RSS

26 Conclusions & Recommendations Indexing Formal taxonomies with folksonomies (alternate terms from common language)

27 Conclusions & Recommendations Interoperability - (OAI, metadata) for a common index Increased visibility Integrated searching Global health resource Positioning on the Web Interoperability - Web services Supports public policy of access to information Creates environment for discovery Require cross-linking Provide a standardized logo and text Information Partner sites; other sites. Use RSS feeds on the portal, and blogs for news items or health consumers personal stories.

28 Conclusions & Recommendations Interface with mobile phone technology and wireless technology. Access and privacy Wireless billboards (public places) Create an entry in Wikipedia Positioning on the Web Simple, easy to remember Web address

29 Conclusions & Recommendations Usage and Usability Studies Brief, three question survey on main page of portal. Immediate feedback Yearly focus groups and wider surveys Monitor usage statistics produced by the servers Check the ranking of the portal on Google monthly.

30 Acknowledgements HealthInsite (Australia) Prue Deacon and Jill Smith of the HealthInsite Editorial Team. NHS Choices (UK) Bob Gann, Head of Strategy & Engagement. Gary Ashby, Programme Manager. Health EU (European Union) Donata Meroni, Head of Sector "Programme Management and Communication, SANCO, European Commission. Vincent Draguet, SANCO, European Commission. PublicHealth Mark Hudson, Senior Communications Executive, Public Health Agency of Canada. Healthfinder Christy Choi, Internet Health Information Advisor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

31

32 Innovation, inspiration and focus of public health information portals Nicholas Cop - copn@bellsouth.net